A generic approach to the modeling of buildings, focussing on
the representation of productstructure

Abstract: An approach to the modeling of buildings is presented, focussing on the
invariables in the representation of the building as a complex object, composed
of spaces, assemblies of building elements and materials. The general infor-
mationarchitecture includes: functional and technical specification, the deter-
mination of form and dimensions, determination of productstructure, cost and
performance estimation and the transformation of productstructure into building
operations.
The emphasis is on the representation of the productstructure of buildings from
different viewpoints and in different phases. Within the productstructure a
distinction is made between spatial structure and "material structure", the way
materials, components and assemblies are combined into the endproduct as a whole.
This leads to a semantic network with various hierarchies of abstraction,
allowing for an integration of top-down and bottom-up approaches in various
stages of the design process and a combination of generic and specific represen-
tations of components, assemblies and productstructure.
Related issues of datastructuring and -modeling and variational and combina-
torial design are discussed on the basis of a prototypical appIication: an
assembly consisting of doors and windows, their frames, wall openings, wall and
loadbearing structure. The application involves a hybrid object-oriented DBMS,
Tornado.

Permission to reproduce these documents has been graciously provided by the Lund University and the Swedish Building Centre. The assistance of the editors, Prof. Per Christiansson and Prof. Henry Karlsson, is gratefully appreciated.